A Grip on Sports: Superlatives flow after the Seahawks’ 38-37 win over L.A. Thursday night and, for once, every one of them is justified

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Name the best play from Thursday night’s crucial Seahawk win over Los Angeles. Not the most-impactful one. Not the weirdest. Not the prettiest. The best. In a game filled with more memorable plays than Shakespeare’s oeuvre, it’s almost impossible to select just one, isn’t it?

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• That won’t stop me, though. Jalen Sundell, just back from injury, made it. Who’s that, you might ask? Sundell is the starting center, the key man in the middle of a Seattle offensive line that struggled Thursday night to keep quarterback Sam Darnold clean. And yet, here he was, ready to contribute at the start of the third quarter and the Hawks desperately needing something to jump start the offense.

He supplied the spark with a block. Two, actually. A chip to his left, a quick pop out to the linebacker and, boom, a hole.

Kenneth Walker III used it to get up to speed, found another opening – another gear too – and raced 55 yards for a touchdown.

Why would I pick such a mundane play in a spectacular game – the latest game-of-the-year as chosen by the NFL’s hype machine – that ended a couple hours later with the Seahawks on top 38-37?

A lot of reasons, actually. Sundell made a winning play, the usually unnoticed type of extra effort that never shows up in a box score and rarely in postgame TV analysis. It’s a play the Hawks were struggled to make while the 26-year-old North Dakota State product was sidelined by a knee injury a few weeks ago.

Five days after being activated, he delivered the type of play championship teams make. The type of plays the offensive line will need to make over and over the next couple weeks if Mike Macdonald’s team is going to build off the most-important win of the season. Until the next one.

Yes, the win, coming as it did with just three games remaining and Seattle tied with the Rams atop the NFC West (and NFC overall), could very well turn out to be crucial in the Hawks’ playoff push. According to the number crunchers, a loss would have pretty much ruined any chance of winning the West. The win not only assures them a playoff spot, it also keeps them in the running for the NFC’s lone bye. In fact, they and the 49ers – Seattle’s hosts for the regular season’s final game – are the only NFC teams that control their destiny in that regard.

Destiny is a funny word. It can mean things are out of your control. Or that no one can stop what is about to happen. It sure seemed as if the Rams were destined to win last night’s game, especially when they led by 16 points with 8-minutes, 22-seconds left.

After all, Darnold had once again gagged while throwing a pass just three plays before. At the Rams’ doorstep, he tried to force a ball into Jaxon Smith-Njiba’s hands at the L.A. 1-yard-line, only to see Kobie Turner pick it. It was Darnold’s second interception, the first of which led to seven points – and momentum. And the second time the Rams had confused the veteran quarterback.

Dazed, the Seahawk defense gathered itself and forced a three-and-out. L.A. punter Ethan Evans trotted onto the field for the first time. So did Rashid Shaheed, a midseason acquisition.

Evans’ punt wobbled to just past midfield. Shaheed never wobbled at all, returning it 58 yards and earning the most-impactful play of the game award. Darnold connecting with Cooper Kupp on the two-point conversion followed. What once was all darkness now illuminated by a sliver of hope.

It was enough.

Another defensive stop, another touchdown. Two plays, a Shaeed long run followed by a Darnold TD pass to tight end A.J. Barner, did the trick. Well, with an assist by the replay booth. Turns out Zach Charbonnet’s lackadaisical recovery of what everyone thought was an incomplete pass – including the on-field officiating crew – may have saved the Seahawks’ season.

In easily the weirdest play of the night, it turns out the whistle didn’t kill the play when Darnold’s quick pass left was knocked out of the sky. It was backward, something replay determined after quite a long look. And the ball was life when Charbonnet bent over and picked it up before it rolled back out of the end zone.

Two points Seattle. Tie at 30. It took one second less than 2 minutes.

It also took a Harrison Mevis 48-yard field goal failure with 2:11 left to get the game to overtime.

The Rams scored first, on Puka Nacua’s 12th catch, a 41-yard score that gave him 225 receiving yards, or about 150 more than the number of words the star receiver either said or tweeted about the officiating before and after the game.

It took Seattle nine plays to get into the endzone and about two seconds for Macdonald to decide to not give the ball back to MVP candidate Matt Stafford, who already had thrown for 457 yards and three touchdowns.

The Hawks lined up for a win-or-lose two-point conversion. And ran the prettiest play of the night.

Tight end Eric Saubert, another redemption story, chipped from his spot on the left side of the line, then snuck into the end zone. Sundell and company – not including usual left tackle Charles Cross, who missed the game with a hamstring injury – gave Darnold time to find his fourth option. It was Saubert. He was open. Darnold moved a hair, threw a dart and Saubert caught the crowd-igniting spark. Then joined with them celebrating the win.

Want one word from the first paragraph that fits better than any other.

Memorable.

• OK, Fridays are always about what’s ahead on the weekend on TV. Sorry, not today. Other than to say the College Football Playoffs start tonight with Alabama at Oklahoma (5, ABC) and continue all day Saturday. The NFL has two Saturday games, the best of which is the NFC North showdown between Green Bay and Chicago in Soldier Field (5 p.m., Fox). And there is the usual slate of NFL games Sunday. Of course, being it is almost Christmas, there are college hoop games worth watching as well, with the local slate highlighted, and finished, by seventh-ranked Gonzaga facing Oregon in Portland on Sunday (3, Peacock).

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WSU: The Cougars’ bowl game in Boise on Monday probably won’t include the team’s top running back. Greg Woods reports sophomore Kirby Vorhees is entering the portal and will not be flexing in the Idaho Famous Potato Bowl. … Greg has added Vorhees’ name to his transfer portal tracker. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner looks back, and grades, Washington’s season. His column is in the S-R. … Wilner’s look at Utah’s private equity plan is in the Mercury News. … John Canzano has his picks for the weekend on his website. … Why is there a seemingly concerted effort to downgrade the Group of 5’s participation in the CFP? Could it have something to do with money? Of course it does. … James Madison is one of those being denigrated. Can they give Oregon a game at Auzten? Probably not. Not if the Ducks are healthy. … Former Washington State player Brett Bartolone is leaving the Colorado coaching staff for another opportunity. … Utah coach Kyle Whittingham reiterated he is not retiring. He said again Thursday he is in the coaching transfer portal. One has to wonder why he decided to step down now. … The Utes are losing two brothers on their offensive line and might lose their quarterback. … Arizona State is in a tough spot with its coach. … Boise State begins its journey down the transfer portal road. … Former Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr wants to coach. … San Diego State has lost its quarterback to injury for its bowl game.

• In basketball news, a Washington women’s player has shown she can do more than just make 3-pointers. … Oregon avenged a two-year-old loss to Portland. … USC pounded Cal Poly. … Arizona has been using a lineup with two bigs more often. … The Colorado men are happy about their rebounding improvement. … USC is adding a point guard from the portal in midseason. … When Arizona plays in Phoenix this weekend, the specter of the Pac-12 will hover over the game. … San Diego State had no trouble with Air Force. … Why does Colorado State have such a prolific offense?

Gonzaga: It’s been a long time since anyone has seen Steele Venters do what he did against Campbell. The 127th-year senior threw down an impressive dunk and told Theo Lawson afterward he felt 18 again. That plays keys Theo’s look back at Wednesday’s win in McCarthey. And, for the record, Venters is only on his seventh year as college basketball player, having redshirting his freshman year during the pandemic and the last two to major injuries.

Whitworth: The Pirate men finished off nonconference play with an 86-68 win at Chapman University.

EWU: It’s been pointed out in this space just how tough the nonconference schedule the men are playing. It’s been noticed. Even by the guy who approved, head coach Dan Monson. He told Dan Thompson this week “I blame myself a lot for overscheduling a little bit.” Dan has more in this story. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, the playoff version of the Brawl is Saturday afternoon in Bozeman. Montana and Montana State seem ready to rumble once more. … Idaho State realizes how much money it will take to compete these days. … In basketball news, the Weber State men lost to Utah Valley.  

Preps: The Grandaddy of Them All, Spokane rivalry basketball games version, was held at the Arena last night. Dave Nichols was there and has this story on the girls’ game, won by Ferris 66-64. The boys game, also won by the Saxons, is also covered on the link. … Colin Mulvany has this photo gallery as well. … There is also a roundup of Thursday night’s other games. … Madison McCord has this feature on a Mt. Spokane wrestler, Brendan Hughes, who is back from an ACL injury.

Mariners: Cal Raleigh is an award-winning breakout star. 

Seahawks: There are some links above. But I start this section with Dave Boling’s on-deadline column. One that probably had to be rewritten entirely after the Hawks’ first-time ever rallying from a 16-point, fourth-quarter deficit. … There is also a game story and three takeaways in the S-R to pass along. … As it was the Thursday night game, the national coverage was intense. And only made a little more so by the wild nature of the game. … There are always grades. … And columns from Seattle. … There are also a bunch of interesting stories to pass along from the Los Angeles area. 

Kraken: The freefall continues. Seattle lost in Calgary 4-2 last night.

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• If you want to know why the Hawks were able to rally, look no further than our TV room. I made the ultimate sacrifice last night. I left the room when they were down 16 – at my son’s request. Something had to be done to change the momentum and, as all fans believe, he thought it was my gloom and doom that was causing their struggles. He asked that I leave the premises. I went upstairs to watch. By the way, with the game in Seattle, we had salmon for dinner. I made sure to toss the Costco package to Kim, in imitation of the usual national TV shot, before she cooked. Until later …